Guardian of Imagination
by artmusicjoy
Summary: Joy was a normal girl, until she became immortal. She is now the Guardian of Imagination, technically. She doesn't want to join the Guardians. What happens when Pitch meets this girl? What happens when she joins him? What if Jack Frost gets involved? Let's just say in this story Pitch is stuck at around age 30. (I'm bad at summaries).
1. Chapter 1

**I own nothing!**

The Guardians were being called to North's workshop. "Ah, Man In Moon, we are all here, what is it you need us to do?" A moonbeam shined on the floor. "There's going to be a new Guardian," North said, excited.

"But why?" Bunny asked.

An image of a normal 25-year-old woman appeared, "Who is it?" Tooth asked.

"Her name is Joy, she will become the Guardian of Imagination. She is not immortal yet, but when she does, she'll need guidance."

"Where we find her?"

Joy was driving home from the book store where she worked. She looked in her rear-view mirror, the guy behind her was swerving like crazy, _Drunk_, she thought, rolling her eyes. She sped up a little to avoid him hitting her, and then she came to a red light. Unknown to her, when she stopped, the driver sped up.

When she woke up, she couldn't remember anything, but she was floating. Then a voice coming from the Moon said, "Your name is Joy, you will meet the other guardians soon." _Guardians? _She floated back down and realized something, she didn't know anything else. She sat and waited for these so called 'Guardians' and wondered, "Who am I? What am I?" She looked up at the Moon in desperation, but received no answer. She looked around and saw someone walking, "Sir?" no answer, "Sir!" she tried grabbing his shoulder but her hand went through him. She pulled her hand back in shock.

"Yea!" she heard someone yell up in the air. To her surprise, she saw a red sleigh flying up in the air _Santa? No, don't be ridiculous_. She looked over at the man, who didn't seem to notice all the noise the sleigh was making. North saw her staring and knew who she was, "There she is!" The same voice said in a thick, Russian accent. The sleigh landed in the ally next to her. "There you are, Joy."

"Who are you?"

"We are the Guardians, and so are you."

"What?"

"You're a Guardian, mate," A giant bunny said.

"This is so excited!" Tooth squealed, "Hi, I'm Tooth, this is Sandman, North, and Bunny. It is so nice to meet you!"

"Yeah, but what is a Guardian?"

"We protect the children of the world, bringing them joy and wonder, and now, imagination."

"I thought children had their own imagination."

"They do, but now they have someone to help them if they lose their train of thought or run out of ideas. What makes each child special is their imaginative ideas," the Moon answered.

"Ah, Man in Moon, glad you could make it, we were about to make her Guardian."

"Wait, I don't know if I can do this."

"Of course you can."

"But I don't even know how to…'create' imagination."

"Look in your bag," the Moon said, Joy opened it and found it filled with sparkling dust, "Spread this over anyone and they will be filled with creativity."

"OK, now you become Guardian," North opened a huge book and began to read.

Then a dark voice said, "Ah, a new Guardian; and why wasn't I invited to this occasion?"

I looked behind me to see a man who didn't look much older than me, "Who is that?"

"Pitch Black" he introduced himself, "And what might your name be, Guardian?"

"Joy."

"Oh, how original, a _guardian_ bringing _joy_ to children. Might I ask, what makes you so special?"

"I don't know, what makes you so special?" Joy countered.

"Imagine this, every boogeyman, every monster in the closet or under the bed, and every nightmare, all in one. That is who I am, how about you?" Pitch cupped her chin, looking into her eyes.

"Let 'er go, mate, we don't want any trouble," Bunny jumped in.

"Alright, let your little ceremony continue."

"Wait, I still don't know if I want to be a Guardian."

"What?" North asked.

"Well this is just great," Pitch laughed, "Someone doesn't want to be an all-important Guardian."

"What you mean?"

"'What I mean,' is I don't know any of you, why should I trust you?"

"Because…" North trailed off.

"I thought so," Joy said, then she shot up into the air, leaving the Guardians where they stood. Pitch decided to follow her.

**A/N I know MiM doesn't talk…technically, but he needs to for this to work. And yes, Joy basically has fairy dust, but I couldn't come up with anything else.**


	2. Chapter 2

Joy flew to a forest outside of town, wanting to get away from it all. _Why should I trust them? They don't know me! I don't even know who I…am_. She sighed; she'd only been alive a short time, how could the Guardians know anything about her? "Why so sad?" Pitch said from behind her.

Joy tried to ignore him. "Oh, the silent treatment, how mature."

"Go away."

"She speaks," he chuckled.

"What do you want?"

"I want to help you."

"Sure."

"Don't you trust me?"

"Why should I? You said so yourself you're every child's nightmare," Joy laughed lightly.

"I used to be," Pitch said sadly.

"What do you mean?"

"I used to, back in the Dark Ages. Children used to believe in me, they all feared me, even some of the grown ups. Such happy times for me. Then the Guardians came along and ruined it for me, bringing hope and wonder. Meanwhile I was written off as a bad dream. Now no one can see me."

"Was it really all that great? Being feared?"

"Yes, you can't even imagine what it's like being invisible for hundreds of years."

"All because they don't believe in you?"

"Yeah, it's actually rather unfair."

"Who said they needed to fear you though?"

"What are you going on about?"

"Couldn't they believe in you, but not fear you?"

"No, of course not! I can see why you're a Guardian, always looking at the positives."

"It's better than being negative about everything."

"I can imagine, but enough about me, what about you?"

"What about me?"

"You never answered my question earlier. What do you do that makes you special?"

Joy shrugged, "Apparently I help kids' imaginations."

"Sounds exciting, helping kids come up with ideas that they take as their own, never getting any credit."

"You don't know that!" Joy countered.

"How optimistic, but I do know. Children have been imagining since the beginning of time, did they ever think it was some magical being with fairy dust? No, of course not. But where will that leave you? An outcast like me, that's where."

"No! The Moon wouldn't have made me just to be forgotten."

"Oh yes he would, he's done it before, he'll do it again."

"No," Joy whispered, "I can prove you wrong," she flew into the air, back toward the town.

A child was outside with his mother saying, "What should I write my story about?"

"I don't know," the father replied. The child looked deep in thought until Joy sprinkled her dust on him.

"I know, what if there was a dinosaur and…" the child kept talking and Joy landed in front of them.

"Your welcome," but the father and child walked right through her. Joy gasped, "No," she breathed.

"See? They won't believe in you, but you can make them believe."

"How?" Joy asked cautiously.

"Join me, we can make them believe."

"You still haven't answered my question, why should I trust you?"

"Because unlike the Guardians, I know what it's like to be ignored. I know what it's like wanting to be believed in. And I have been working on a plan to become believed in. So what do you say, are you in?" Pitch extended his hand.

Joy shook his hand, "Sure."


	3. Chapter 3

"So, what's the plan?" Joy asked.

"Follow me." So she did, they went back into the woods until they came across a bed frame_. Strange_, Joy thought. Pitch moved the bed and gestured for her to go down the hole.

She jumped in screaming, "This is so cool!" Pitch rolled his eyes and followed after her, using his powers to catch her before she hit the ground. "Thanks," Joy said awkwardly, just realizing the ground.

"Be careful, don't want my partner to get hurt on the first day," Pitch chuckled.

Joy looked at the large room they were in, "Where are we?"

"My home and my workshop."

"Wow," then she realized she was still in Pitch's arms, not that he could say he minded. "Sorry," she said, getting back on her feet.

"Not a problem, now let's get to work." Pitch walked over to a nearby table with a mountain of golden sand.

Joy reached sifted the small grains between her fingers, "What is this?"

_Ah, so much to learn_, "I took some of Sandman's dream sand."

"Why?"

"In order to be believed in, children need to fear me," _Here we go again_, Joy thought, rolling her eyes, "Since none of them believe in me, they can't see me. So I'm going to make them fear their own dreams by turning them into nightmares. 'Course I haven't quite figured it out."

"Then how will you?"

"That's where you come in, my dear."

"Me?"

"Yes, your 'fairy dust' can make children imagine anything," Pitch took a small amount of the dust in his hand, which turned black at his thoughts of fear. "You can decide what they see; or even what they dream, including nightmares." He sprinkled the dust onto the pile of sand, which in turn became black as well.

"Whoa."

"Now, let's go make some nightmares."

They came to a small house and found the child's bedroom. Sand floated above his head, it was him as a knight. Joy sighed at the smile on the boy's face. "Ah, such an innocent dream, but what could be more powerful than a nightmare?" (A/N I forget what Pitch says when he makes a nightmare, but insert that there). Pitch picked up some of Joy's dust and blew it onto the sand above the boy. The imaged blackened and a monster appeared, ready to attack the boy, who quivered in his sleep. "That's more like it," Pitch chuckled darkly and disappeared.

Joy looked at the little boy's quivering lip; she couldn't stand it. She took out some sand, which turned gold again at her happy thoughts and blew it onto the boy's dream. The boy conquered the monster and the smile returned on his face.

Joy then followed Pitch on top of a tall building. The moon was bright, Joy was transfixed by its glow when she heard someone say, "This is not who you are, Joy. You are a Guardian."

"You don't know what I am," she whispered. Pitch looked at her, seeing her stare at the moon. _What does he want?_ Pitch thought.

"Joy, stop pretending you are something you're not."

"How do you know what I am?" she asked, a little louder.

"Leave the girl alone," Pitch threatened, "We have work to do."

"Work?"

"Yes, spreading my-our nightmares," Pitch smirked; putting is hand on Joy's shoulder.

"I don't need the moon telling me who I am," Joy said.

"You will learn soon enough," the moon said.

"Just ignore him, Joy. You know who you are, better than that old man," Pitch said, trying to make her feel better. He saw the sad look on her face felt a pain in his chest. "Let's forget about the nightmares for now. How about we just go, would you like that?"

She sighed, "I just want to be alone right now," and she flew away, leaving Pitch with an even sharper pain in his chest.


	4. Chapter 4

As Joy flew, she noticed it was getting colder and beginning to snow. Tears clouded her vision and she attempted to wipe them away. She was surprised when she bumped into someone and they both fell to the ground. "Hey, watch it!" a teenage boy with white hair told Joy.

"Sorry," she said, wiping tears from her face again.

"You ok?" he asked, offering his hand to help her up.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" she swatted his hand away.

"You sure? Cause you don't sound it."

"Who are you anyway?"

"Jack, Jack Frost, you?"

"Joy."

"Now that we've said hi, want to tell me what's wrong?" Jack leaned against his staff.

"I just…don't know who I am." _That makes two of us_, Jack thought, "Everyone keeps telling me, but I don't know if I should believe them. Pitch says one thing, the moon says another-"

"The moon?" Jack cut her off.

"Yeah, it sounds kind of crazy," Joy smiled at her realization.

"No, I believe you; he's talked to me before…once. All he told me was my name is Jack Frost."

"He talks to me too much. He keeps saying 'You are a Guardian.' How does he know who I am?"

"I wish he would tell me who I was. I'm not seen by anyone, or heard, or believed in, it sucks."

"I know what you mean."

"Why were we created if we weren't supposed to be seen?"

"I don't know, but hey, it can't be that bad."

"I've been at this for over 300 years, I'd beg to differ."

"Come on! Living forever? Getting to see things others can only imagine? Doing whatever you want, whenever you want? I don't know about you, but that sounds like a pretty good deal."

"You are really optimistic, aren't you?"

Joy shrugged, "I guess."

Unaware to Jack and Joy, Pitch was watching there little chat from behind a tree. _Alone, hmm? _He couldn't help but feel a twinge in his heart at the thought. As Jack moved in closer to Joy, Pitch clenched his fists. "Well, I better go," Joy said at last, _Finally,_ Pitch thought.

"Yeah, me too."

"Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you…for helping me clear my head."

"Sure, no problem. Bye, Joy," they both smiled and waved goodbye.

As Joy walked away, "I see you met Jack," Pitch said.

"Oh! Hey, Pitch."

"I see you had your 'moment alone.'"

"No, it's not like that, we flew into each other-"

"Are you alright?"

"Yes I'm fine, we just bumped into each other and started talking."

"Glad you're alright, why don't we go home?"

"Sure."

_Pitch's Lair_

That night, as Joy lay in her bed, thoughts of both Jack Frost and Pitch Black swirled in her head. They are both really nice. But Pitch is all about fear, Jack is all about fun. But Jack acts like a kid, Pitch is more mature. She sighed and drifted off into a deep sleep.

_She was running, she didn't know from what, but it wasn't good. "Joy!" she heard two voices say. She kept running until she ended up in someone's arms, Pitch's arms._

As Joy slept, the Nightmare King could sense her fear. Normally he loved it, but when he found the source of the fear, he froze in place. "Joy!" he yelled trying to get her to wake up. She was tossing and turning so he hugged her, trying to calm her down a little.

"_I'm glad you're alright, let's go," he said._

"_No, Joy, come with me," the other voice, Jack, said._

"_No, Joy, come with us. Join us," the Guardians (who were the ones chasing her) said. She slowly walked over to them, drawn them like a bug to a light._

"_No, Joy, you are not one of them," Pitch pleaded, but she kept walking. "Fine, have it your way," and an army of night-mares came out of the woods and charged._

She woke up with a gasp. "Oh, Joy, are you alright?" Pitch said. She put his arms around him.

"I had a nightmare," she whispered.

"I know, I know, but don't worry, it was just a bad dream." Pitch couldn't believe he was saying this, downplaying himself, but he was, _For her…_

"What time is it?" Joy asked.

"It's only 4 in the morning, why don't you get some more sleep, hmm?" Pitch said, laying her down on the bed. "Sweet dreams," he turned to walk away.

"Pitch?" he looked at her, "Stay…with me, please?"

"Sure," he lay down on the bed next to her.

"Thank you," she said with a huge smile as she fell into a peaceful asleep.

Pitch leaned on his side to watch the bright angle sleeping next to him, and smiled. Even though she was facing the other way, he could still imagine her perfect features. Her chocolate waterfall of curls flowed down along the sides of her face, a face with two emerald eyes; oh he could go on and on. He subconsciously pulled a strand of her hair behind her ear. She smiled and leaned into his touch in her sleep. Pitch gasped and pulled away, what was he doing?

_I am the Boogeyman, I am fear, not some love sick…Love? Is that what this is? No! You just love what her fairy dust can do. She is only a piece of the plan. Beside she wouldn't care for you, not when people like Jack Frost are around. _"Frost," he lightly growled, quiet enough that he wouldn't wake up Joy. He looked down at her sleeping form, she was smiling. _Is she really that happy? She is sleeping next to the Nightmare King and has a _smile_ on her face? A beautiful smile…_


	5. Chapter 5

Joy woke up only to find that Pitch was gone_. Guess you can't always trust fear, _she thought giggling lightly. She stretched her arms like a cat when she heard a familiar voice say, "Ah, you're up. I trust you slept well," it was more a statement than a question.

"Well, when you're friends with the Nightmare King, you don't have as any nightmares."

"Friends?" Pitch said quietly, _I never had friends before_.

"Well yeah, we know each other, we talk, we spend time together, we're friends," Joy smiled, _Though I wish we were more…There is something about him that seems familiar._

"Speaking of spending time together, not many children are asleep right now; I thought we could just spend the day together," Pitch struggled to keep his voice even.

"Sure, what the plan?"

"I thought we would go somewhere special."

"Where?"

"That's a surprise, but first are you afraid of the dark?" he asked already knowing the answer.

"Shouldn't you know that already?"

"Ah, clever girl, follow me," and he shadowed (**A/N that's what I calling it now**) out of the room and Joy followed. She didn't see Pitch when, "Boo!"

"Ah! Pitch!" Joy laughed more than spoke. _She has such a beautiful laugh._

"He he. Can't I have a little fun?"

"Don't we have somewhere to go?"

"Yes," he snapped his fingers, "we do," a night-mare appeared and Pitch got on.

Joy stroked its hide, feeling the sand, "What is this?"

"A night-mare, care to join me?" Pitch said extending his hand, which Joy gladly accepted.

"Can't you give me a hint about where we're going?"

"Sorry, but no," and then the night-mare shot forward and Joy wrapped her arms around Pitch's torso.

After flying for an hour, they were over the ocean. Joy flew off the night-mare down to the water and glided just above the water. Pitch watched her and smiled, she was so vibrant and free, not a care in the world. Joy sped up and flipped on her back, watching the water spray up around her. She closed her eyes and spread her arms out like wings, feeling pure bliss.

Pitch flew his night-mare down beside her, "Enjoying yourself, hmm?"

"Yes, are you enjoying _yourself_?"

Pitch straightened himself, gripping the reins of he night-mare, "Of course, why wouldn't I be?"

"You seem so stiff, you need to relax."

"I am perfectly relaxed," he lied; he just wasn't himself around her, they had only known each other a day but to him it felt like forever. Today he was especially nervous, _Will she like the surprise? Of course she will, she enjoys everything…But will she enjoy this? I mean, I don't see what so interesting about a cave but-_

"Sure you are. Anyway, are we almost there?"

"Almost, just a few more minutes."

"Still not going to tell me where we are going exactly?"

"Don't want to ruin the surprise," Pitch grinned.

"So, he does have a sense of humor," Joy said, splashing some water up at Pitch.

"Hey!" *splash, "Quit it!" *splash, Pitch brought his night-mare down so it was almost in the water. A school of flying fish swam up, breaking the surface of the water with small splashes. Joy saw this and mimicked their movements, earning a laugh from Pitch, a real laugh and not his usual dark chuckle.

As they finally reached land Pitch told Joy to get back on the night-mare and close her eyes. After a few minutes, Pitch guided her off the night-mare and into a cave. "Where are we?" Joy asked.

"Open your eyes and see," Pitch whispered into her ear. Joy opened her eyes at first only seeing darkness, but when she looked up, she saw dots glowing above her.

"Where are we?"

"Waitomo caves in New Zealand, known for it's glow worms," Pitch smirked, expecting her to at least jump back but was shocked to hear her say, "Cool."

Joy looked all around her, seeing glowing dots and lines, "They look like stars."

"Yeah, that's what I like about coming here. It reminds me of the night sky, the darkness with mere flickers of light but not enough to hide the blackness…" Pitch was staring sadly at the cave ceiling, being reminded of his own black heart and how Joy would probably only be with him for a short time before finding her place in the world and leaving him. _Then I'll be alone again..._

Joy noticed his saddening tone, "Pitch?"

"Hmm?"

"Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing is wrong."

"I know something is wrong…please tell me?"

"Persistent aren't we?"

"You going to tell me? I really want to know and maybe…help?"

"Alright, I'll tell you. I have lived hundreds of years, spreading fear into the hearts of children everywhere. At first, life was great, in the Dark Ages, fear ruled the world and I was that fear. But then the Guardians came along bringing hope and wonder and where was I? I was pushed to the side, put off as a bad dream. After that, I was alone, nobody could see or hear me…nobody believes in me."

"Why were the Guardians created?" _Why was I created if I was supposed to be a Guardian?_

"The Man in the Moon decided I was no longer needed, that children didn't need fear, they needed joy."


	6. Chapter 6

"…_they needed joy."_

_Joy_…suddenly it hit her. The Man In the Moon made each of the Guardians to bring something to children, hope, wonder, dreams, memories…joy. She was supposed to bring joy to children. Nothing makes a child happier than their imagination, creating people, places, or things that will bring them joy. That's why she was here. "Joy? Joy! Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine…I have to go," and she flew out the mouth of the cave.

Pitch followed asking, "Where are you going?"

"Thanks for the date, I had fun!" Joy yelled back, not answering his question.

_Date? She thought it was a date? She thought it was a date! And she had fun!_ Pitch smiled, but his face soon fell,_ But will she come back?_

_Joy's POV_

I had no idea where I was going, but I needed to think. I am here to bring joy to children, but Pitch (who does almost the opposite) was my only friend. I really liked him, _but would he like me when he found out what my purpose was? We could still be friends…maybe more._

_Well Pitch isn't my only friend, Jack is, maybe…And I'm not even sure this is my purpose, right? I could be wrong, but I think I'm right…Why is this so complicated?! I've only existed for a day, not even and just…ugh_! Being lost in my thoughts, I bumped into something, no someone again. "Oh hi Jack."

"Hey, still learning how to fly?"

"Apparently."

"Well where were you going in such a rush?"

… "I don't really know…Where are you going?"

"I was just heading to Austria, it's colder there so I was going to start a snowball fight or something and just hang after…Wanna come with me?"

"Sure," _Looks like I do have another friend._

_In Austria_

"Yeah, snow day!" Jack waved his staff around, making snow balls and throwing some of them at kids who were running around everywhere.

I decided to join in by scooping up some snow and throwing it at Jack. "Hey!" and he threw one at me too. As we had our snowball fight, the kids had there own, not noticing the random flying snowballs.

"That was fun," I said when we were done.

"That's what I do."

"I thought you made ice and snow…"

"Yeah, but who doesn't enjoy a snowball fight? You can't argue with that."

"Not really, but you still mostly make ice and snow."

"Well how about I show you something?"

"I don't have a choice do I?"

"Nope, come on." After a few minutes, we were at the mouth of a cave, _Another cave, didn't see that coming._ "Close your eyes until we're inside."

"Fine," I obeyed and Jack guided me inside, "It's cold in here," I said with a shiver.

"OK, open your eyes." I looked around; we were surrounded by ice, all beautifully placed along the cave. Icicles hung above us, glittering in the sunlight, ice sheets covered the ground like a carpet, just beautiful.

"You did all this?"

"Well, the Easter Bunny didn't."

I rolled my eyes, "How long did it take you to make this?"

"Not long, it's just something I made in my free time, which I have a lot of." I flew down, planting my feet on the ground and tried stepping forward but started to slip. "Whoa, careful," Jack said taking my hands, "Try this," he moved his feet on the ground and we started sliding. "Come on, try it," I followed his lead, almost slipping a few more times, but I got the hang of it. "There you go!"

After we skated for a while, I realized I didn't know how to get back to the entrance of the cave. When I told Jack, he suggested, "Let's see who can make it out first, you in?"

"I would, but didn't you make this cave?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Wouldn't that mean you have an advantage here?"

"Maybe, but do you want to get out or not?"

I groaned, "Yes."

"Then try to beat me out," and the he was gone._ Great. _I looked around, noticing a trail of frost on the ground clouding the ice, _Interesting, _so I followed the trail and eventually met Jack at the mouth of the cave. Then we just hung out for a bit before I had to go, I still needed to think.

_Pitch's POV_

I sat in my lair, in the door frame of what was Joy's room. _Now she's gone, just a flicker of light, never meant to last._ I shook my head, "I can't be sulking, I still have big plans for the Guardians. With or without Joy I will spread my nightmares across the globe. And everyone will see…they will believe in Pitch Black!" I shadowed out of the lair and went to find the first sleeping child that would fear my nightmares, "And maybe I'll visit the Guardians when I'm done," an additional plan forming in my mind. Yes, not only would I be believed in, but the Guardians would no longer stand in my way. _And maybe I could make my darkness up to Joy…once she gets her memories back._


	7. Chapter 7

_Joy's POV_

I took the long way home, still needing time to think. I have no idea what to do. Pitch was my first friend, the one I trusted the most. But then there were the Guardians, who said I was one of them. _Well, I don't have to choose yet, I have eternity to decide._

_Jack's POV_

I just finished up in Austria and was heading home when I saw something, no someone. I held staff ready for anything, "'Ello mate," except him, "Been a long time, blizzard of '68 I believe…Easter Sunday."

"You're not still mad about that are you?"

"Yes, but this is about something else…fellas." Next thing I knew I was in a burlap sack and I felt like we were going through a portal.

When we landed I was greeted by two elves and heard someone with a thick Russian accent saying, "Eh, Jack Frost."

"Santa? The Tooth fairy? The Easter Bunny? Sandman? Wow."

"I hope the Yeti's treated you well?"

"Yes I loved being shoved in a sack and tossed through magic portal."

"Good, that was my idea."

"So, am I on the naughty list?"

"Naughty list? You hold record, but we overlook because Man in Moon says you can help us."

"Help you? With what?"

Tooth jumped in and walked me over to the globe, "Each of those lights is a child."

"And good or bad, naughty or nice, we protect them."

"OK, so what do you need my help for?"

"For centuries, we have protected children of the world, bringing hope and wonder, now we face a threat greater that ever before."

"Oh, well thank you for the introduction," a dark voice said from on top of the globe.

"Pitch Black," Tooth whispered.

"What do you want?" Bunny asked.

"I just thought I'd pop by; see how Joy's replacement is doing."

_Joy? Replacement?_ "How do you know Joy?"

"What are you really here for?"

"I just thought I'd give you the heads up at the end of the Guardians," Pitch said, eying Tooth.

"What does he mean?"

"The teeth!" Pitch chuckled darkly at Tooth's response and shadowed out of the room and she flew out as fast as she could.

"We have to go, everyone into sleigh!" North yelled already leading us to it.

"Wait! I still need to know, why do you need my help?"

"Man in Moon says you know Pitch's new partner, Joy. Is this true?"

"Yeah, we were just hanging out in Austria earlier."

"She was supposed to be Guardian, but said no. Now she is helping our enemy."

"We've tried to get through to her, but she won't listen. If you could talk to her, she might."

"OK, I'll help," I said getting into the sleigh.

"Everybody buckle up!"

"Where are the bloody seatbelts?!"

"Haha, that was just expression. Yeah!"

After flying for a bit we could see Tooth's Palace. Everywhere we looked there were baby tooths (teeth? whatever) being chased by horses made of black sand. I saw one baby tooth being chased by a night-mare and flew up and grabbed it. "You OK baby tooth?" It nodded in my hand.

We tried to save more baby tooths and these weird canisters that the night-mares seemed to want badly, but to no avail. We landed and saw Tooth flying around, unsure where to go and muttering, "They're gone, all gone. The teeth, my fairies, everything."

"Tooth calm down, they're just teeth."

"Just teeth! Jack you have no idea!"

"She's right you know," Pitch's voice interrupted.

"Pitch! What did you do to my fairies?!"

"All you need to know is that children are waking up realizing the Tooth Fairy didn't come."

"No…" The palace seemed to be disappearing around us.

"What's going on?"

"Didn't they tell you Jack? If enough children stop believing in you, you become weaker and eventually disappear. And that is exactly what I intend to do to all of you."

"Pitch?" a familiar voice asked. _Joy?_

_Joy's POV_

I finally made it home, "Pitch?" no answer, "Pitch?" Then I saw a note on his worktable, _"1) Raid the Tooth Palace 2) Inform the Guardians 3) Find Joy and get her memories."_

_Memories? _I flew to the Tooth Palace even though I have no idea how I got there, I made it. When I got there, I saw night-mares chasing little bird-fairy things. I wanted to go up to Pitch and ask what he was doing, but was frozen in place until, "…And that is exactly what I intend to do to all of you."

"Pitch?"

All eyes were on me, "Joy!? What are you doing here?" Pitch sounded almost glad to see me.

"I would ask you the same, but I think you just made it pretty clear."

"You know Pitch?" Jack asked.

"Yeah. Or at least I thought I did." At this point I just flew away.

"Joy wait!" I heard Pitch yell behind me.

"Go away."

He grabbed my hand and held it up to his chest, "Please," his eyes pleaded.

"Why would you do this? What is wrong with you?" I pulled my hand away.

"I just want to be believed in!"

"I understand that, that's why I trusted you, but now I see I was wrong."

"Joy I-"

"Destroy the Guardians? I wanted to help you be believed in but this…this is just cruel."

"Please listen to me. I was believed in until the Guardians came along. Now I need to be rid of them if I ever want to-"

"No you don't! Why Pitch? This isn't like you."

"Now that's where you're wrong. This is who I am."

"NO it's not, you're better than this."

He gave me those same pleading eyes, "I'm sorry Joy. I know this won't make up for what I did, but please take it," he held up a canister, "Please?"

"What is that?"

"Your baby teeth, your memories." I stared at him, "Please trust me, I don't want to lose you."

I stared at the canister, not sure what to do. "Memories of what?"

I stared at the canister, not sure what to do. "Memories of what?"

Pitch smiled, "Memories of your life before you became immortal. Here," he placed the canister in my hand and I just stared at it. _I had a life before this?_ I cautiously opened it and saw my life, I remembered. I was scared of the Boogeyman when I was little. I remembered seeing a dark figure lurking in the shadows. As I grew up, I wasn't scared of the figure, but I knew it was there. I was about twelve when I stopped seeing it, forgetting. I had friends, a family, and later a job at the book store. Then I was driving home, the car behind me swerving, and hitting me.

Pitch stared at me, awaiting my reaction, and I stared at him. _That's where I've seen him before!_ "I knew I had known you before!"

"What?"

"I believed in you, when I was little. I saw you, but didn't fear you."

He looked at me puzzled, "You didn't fear me…but you could see me?"

"Yeah…I have an idea. Let's go get the Guardians," I said already heading back to Tooth's place. On the way back, we ran into Jack. "Hey Jack-"

"Joy, why are you working with Pitch? He's bad news-"

"Jack he's not that bad. Now I need your help, do you trust me?"

"Help with what?"

"We are going to help Pitch."

"Are you sure you trust him?" I nodded, "Then I'm in. What's the plan?"

**A/N I'm changing the plot up a bit in case you didn't notice. It **_**is**_** on purpose so deal with it. But yay! Longest chapter I've written so far!**


	8. Chapter 8

"_What's the plan?"_

"First, we need the others to help. And Pitch…"

"Hm?"

"Bring back Tooth's fairies when we're done with this." Jack and I went back to her palace, Pitch trailing slightly behind us.

"Ah Joy! There you are!" North yelled, "I see Jack convinced you to come back, well done."

"Not exactly; you wanna tell them?" Jack asked me.

The Guardians eyed me suspiciously, "OK…I need your help."

"With what exactly?" Bunny asked.

"She wants to help me," they gasped at Pitch's words, "and requires your assistance."

"Not after you took my fairies and all the teeth!"

"Please, all he wants is to be believed in," I pleaded.

"And destroy us," North added.

"No, not anymore. He's not as bad as you think."

"Sure, sorry mate but I'm out."

I turned to Jack and Pitch, "Looks like we're doing this on our own."

"Let's go."

When we were far enough away from the Guardians, Pitch asked, "So what is your plan?"

"Well think of it like this, when I was little I wasn't scared of you, but I could still see you. I have the power to make children believe in anything, _anything_."

"So you're going to make them believe in me?"

"All of us," I opened my bag, "Take some and spread it to every child in the world. They will believe in us…and Pitch?"

"Hm?"

"No scaring them."

"I'll try to resist," _Well it's better than nothing_. We split up, spreading the dust over all parts of the world. After passing each house, children started waving to me and I waved back. I was seen and I loved it. We all bumped into each other a few times and after a while, decided we were done and headed back to Pitch's lair to bring back all the fairies and teeth.

We were surprised to see the Guardians already there, "Um hi."

"'Ello Joy, still helping the enemy I see," Bunny answered.

"He's not the enemy, not anymore."

"Might I ask, what are you doing in my lair? I mean, it seems awfully rude to break in."

"We're getting my fairies back!"

"Well that saves us the trip," Jack commented.

"What you mean?" North asked.

"We were going to bring back all of Tooth's stuff, but oh well."

"We could still use your help," Tooth said. We agreed, Pitch unlocked all the cages and everyone had armfuls of tooth canisters that we were bringing back to Tooth's Palace.

"Joy did your plan really work?" Bunny asked.

"Yeah, no thanks to you," _maybe that was a bit mean…_

"Sorry but helping Pitch isn't a top priority of mine," I rolled my eyes, but I couldn't blame him after all, he didn't know Pitch the way I did.

After we put back all of Tooth's teeth (that sounds really weird) North brought up an old topic I was hoping to avoid, "Joy, do you want to be Guardian?"

"You still want me, even after I 'sided with the enemy?'" I raised my eyebrow.

"Joy, whether you like it or not, you are a Guardian," Tooth said.

"They're right you know," a familiar voice said.

"Ah Man in Moon, please explain to Joy she is Guardian."

"Joy, you are a Guardian, but you don't have to make it official if you don't want to."

"What do you mean? The other day you were on my case about making it official."

"Yes, but now you have fulfilled your main purpose; you can do whatever you want."

"What was my purpose?" _Was I really only needed for a few day then to be forgotten again?_

"Pitch, why don't you tell Joy how you feel?"

"About what?" Pitch said, nervously.

"Do not play that game my friend, tell her."

Pitch sighed, "Joy?" I looked at him questioningly, "I-I think I might…I do…love you." I was speechless, _Does he really mean that? He loves me too? _I smile spread across my face.

"I love you too." Before I knew it, he wrapped his arms around me in a big hug. We pulled back a little and looked into each others eyes, our lips met and it was pure bliss.

I turned to the moon, "What is my purpose then?"

"You and Pitch are meant to be together. You bring out the best in him," I looked at Pitch who shrugged with a smile; I smiled back, "You are a Guardian because you keep fear from taking over. You also make children believe in not only him, but also Jack and yourself. You bring joy to children by keeping away fear and bringing fun; you also bring belief, those are your centers. That is your purpose."

"Thank you."

"Joy, you want to be Guardian?" North asked.

"Sure."

"Great," North brought out a large book and began reciting an oath which I agreed to. "Congratulations, you are Guardian."

**THE END**

**A/N Sorry for the short chapter; and that it's a bit choppy. :P**


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